If you went shopping for toys, you'd notice that there isn't anything that is targeted for babies less than 6 months old. The reason is that babies don't really use toys at that age. His best toy is going to be you-your hands, your face...

Rattles are good. Anything for tummy time to encourage rolling over.
My daughter liked stuffed animals, anything that sang, and of course, pulling my hair and grabbing my face. She also loved when I put on music and danced around the house with her in my arms.

I have been home with her since her birth as well. She is 1 and 1/2 now.

great thank you! I heard that those little baby einstein videos are supposed to be crap. have you heard anything about those?

Get toys with a lot of colors. As babies get older they can start seeing various colors and it's so amazing to see them concentrate on things. My son loved his play mat gym, which has all kinds of toys with lights and stuff above the baby.
http://www.toysrus.com/category/index.jsp? categoryId=2256079

It is not recommended that babies less than 2 years of age watch television. It can cause hyperactivity later, along with other behavioral/developmental problems. The best way to teach your baby is to name everything he tries to grab or points to.

great information thank you. I've been singing to him and I can't wait until he is old enough to enjoy reading because I heard that is supposed to be one of the best ways to teach your baby also

It's not too early to start reading to him! Babies love the sound of their parents' voices. Also, reading from the very beginning is a good start to teaching him how to read. Just read along with your fingers. He will love looking at the pictures and hearing you read.

i was so worried about this before, thinking she wasn't getting enough stimulation from me. but at that age i think you are enough for them for the most part. just holding them and talking and singing to them is enough to keep them happy. oops gotta go baby's up!!


ok...i was also gonna say that at that age when they are mostly looking at things that they like contrasting colours and bright colours. they like things that are bold black and white or bright colours. they love faces. even if you draw a black and white smiley face for them they will stare at it and even start talking to it sometimes. and mirrors. they like looking at the baby in the mirror.

finn loved being read to and he loved going in his jumperoo. we started reading to him when he was a couple weeks old and he started going in his jumperoo at 7 weeks.

this was the first toy that interested him and he loved it-
http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?p roductId=2302912

katie, you never posted any pics!!

Thanks ladies! I think i have the wrong setting on my camera because when i put the pics into the computer from my camera they came out looking like drawings!